So I just went another work trip to Seattle and had the worst flight experience ever. Yes, I said ever. In all my years of flying, I’ve experienced cancellations and delays to no end, but this one blew my mind. I was supposed to get to seattle at 6:55PM. I arrived at 1:30AM. In all, I boarded the plane twice and exited the plane twice. Yes, it was only one flight. I guess I shouldn’t complain, since we did eventually make it, even if 6 1/2 hours later. So during the first stint on the plane, where we probably waited for several hours, I finished reading the Sushi Economy. It was an excellent book and it makes me think just a bit more every time I have sushi now. It’s pretty complex and amazing how that tuna lands on your plate. All I had to eat were a bag of chips and a little biscotti. And this is only because I happened to be in first class. The coach people got bubkus.
After being 6th in line for takeoff, then having to go back to the gate, getting off the plane, and getting back on, it got to be so darn late, 9PM actually, that everyone was cranky and starving. And on a Sunday night at 9PM in PHL Terminal A, there isn’t much foodage to be had. So I ended up going to some horrible place and picking up a wrap that was who knows how old, some fruit salad, and a tastykake pie. Ok, this pie was gross. I remember liking these back in the day, but I guess my palate has changed. The fruit salad was also terrible. The wrap actually was a nice surprise. It wasn’t the greatest, but it was definitely more than meets the eye. You’d think it was just a boring turkey wrap, but it was more like a thanksgiving wrap. There was turkey, some cranberry type of spread, and brie cheese! If it wasn’t for the fact that it was super old and the lettuce wilted and brown, the rest of it was quite fine. The brie was a lovely touch!
Finally, probably at about 10 or 10:30 or so, we actually took off. Once airborne, the flight was flawless. It’s just the taking off part that always gets you. Much of the second hunk of waiting time was due to waiting for catering. Again, since I was in first class, I did get fed a real meal. Coach people, if they were still hungry, could purchase a meal. Man, if I was in coach, and I had to purchase a meal after waiting for 6-7 hours, I would have blown my friggin my top. Anyhoo, I was lucky. It was a simple fetuccini alfredo with some roasted red peppers. There was optional salmon, but most of us opted out of it. It was fine! The salad was fine too and the warm roll was really good.
And man, they really did it again with their cookie. I don’t know who makes these or what recipe they use, but it’s so good! And they serve it to you warm and ooey gooey with the chocolate. Maybe if they kept on giving these to me the whole entire flight, I could have possibly forgotten about that unacceptably long delay, but I don’t think so. Excuse me while I write my formal complaint letter…

Here is a tip for parents with kids out there. If you want an extremely cheap babysitter, buy the “Just Dance” video game. It will keep kids of all ages occupied for hours. M brought it over to K’s house, and I swear, all of the kids in the neighborhood somehow showed up. And they were all mesmerized. It’s like crack, for kids. They wouldn’t have even noticed if you left the house. While the kids were playing, we hung out in the dining room and ate fruit, cheese, nuts, etc. There’s part of the watermelon that I’d been trying to eat through. I’d bought a whole watermelon, for only $3, because really, how do you not buy something when it’s only $3? And I’d been chipping away at it. It took me about 10 days to finish. And it was delicious, too!
When it came to dinner, pizza was ordered! They got a few pies from nearby Poppi’s, in the Wynnewood Shopping Center. I’d always been curious about it, since I pass it all the time, but had never tasted it. It’s good! As K & C said, it is a bit on the pricey side as far as takeout pizza is concerned, but it is real good. The crust is thin, and clearly spiced with garlic. When you’re actually eating just the crust, it almost tastes like a garlicky breadstick. They even throw parsley on the pizza, ain’t that fancy? And if you’re feeding kids, they’ll cut the slices even smaller and leave off the parsley.
And for dessert, we had this cute cake that E made for us. It is a red velvet cake with frosting and chocolate chips. She made it from scratch! And she’s only 10! It was rich and tasty. Thanks E!

Eugene ended up being a good half-way stopping point for the long journey from the coast back to Bend. Plus, we had to stop so that J could watch a World Cup game. Much to my surprise, the Eugene Saturday Market was taking place, which of course had a farmer’s market along with it and a food court. Everything was locally grown and looked fabulous. There were berries everywhere.
White raspberries!

And all kinds of cherries!

But really, what everyone had, and what looked the best, were the oregon grown strawberries.

There were veggies as well, of course. Here are some beautiful cherry tomatoes of different colors. Although I know that tomatoes are actually fruit.

There were also tons of root vegetables, like these turnips and beets. Potatoes were also all over the place.

Along with some cucumbers and some onions and some even more gorgeous red torpedo onions.

This dude was selling crazy mushrooms that he grows. I wonder what other kinds of non-food mushrooms he grows? Because after all, this is Eugene, and man, hippies abound!

Dungeness crab is everywhere in Oregon, and you can even find some here.

Here, they were selling freshly homemade salsas as well as fresh corn tortillas that a lady was cooking up, right on the spot.

There were food vendors in the proper food court, which was part of the regular craft vendor part. But in the farmers market, there were also a few food vendors, including this pastie shop.

J got some fish tacos. He liked these, but was surprised by the spicy salsa that was plopped on top.

I got a little teriyaki bowl from a food court vendor called “nice rice”. My nice rice bowl was brown rice topped with teriyaki chicken and veggies. It was perfectly fine. All the produce looked amazingly fresh, and if I lived in Eugene, I would hope to get my fresh fruits and veggies here all the time!